finally got my computer out of the media center and located the compilation
of sketchbook ideas from several years ago. the list begins with the lower
grades and goes up through HS. contributors are credited at the end of each.

hope you find these useful.
linda in michigan

Subject: sketchbook ideas
>
> Elementary
>
> Grades 1 to 6 I have used: 1. list 10 things a color such as red reminds you
> of. 2. Look at Van Gogh's bedroom. What objects are paired? When you look at
> this painting do you get the impression that the artist was a happy person
> with many friends? Why? What kind of mood has he created? 3. Draw your
> greatest fear. 4. When do you get angry and why? Draw a picture of yourself
> with an angry expression. 5. Draw things that float. 6. Draw things with
> wheels. 7. Draw things that roll. 8. Draw things that close. 9. Draw things
> that come from eggs. 10. Be an ant- describe and draw what you would see. 11.
> If you had a candy bar named after you,what would it look like and what would
> it be called? 12. If I had been a pilgrim, I would have looked like this. 13.
> If you were a flower, what kind would you be? Draw a picture of youself as
> this flower. 14.Express in a drawing your happiest moment in the past year.
> 15. Express in a drawing something you are good at. 16. If I could be any
> color, I'd be____because........ 17. Draw a picture of something you'd like to
> become better at. 18. Using any type of line or shape, create a picture with
> only the 3 primary colors. from Sandy Poos (archives 9/13/96)
> ***************************************
>
> I have found that my students work more in the sketchbooks they make
> themselves. So therefor I always begin the year by having them make their
> sketchbooks. For the youngest ones they are very simple and not so many pages.
> For the older ones we make hard covers for them and usually we do
> printmaking on the paper we glue on to the hard cover. We also make pens out
> of bamboo sticks. As far as favorite things to draw there are many. Sometimes
> we take time to keep a colour diary in the sketchbook of the colours in the
> sky at the same time everyday for a week. Close up drawings from different
> parts of their gardens or other outdoor places are also fun. The family
> members and friends, their shoes or other specific things. For the young ones
> their favorite toys or stuffed animals. from Rosa Juliusdottir
> ***********************
>
> Grades 1 to 8 1. An alien spaceship has landed in the schoolyard. Draw a
> picture of it. 2. High in the Himalayan Mountains lives an abominable
> snowperson. Draw what the snowperson look like. 3. You have made a startling
> discovery while skin diving! Draw what it is! 4. Have you ever been to the
> circus? Draw a picture of your favorite act, with yourself as the ringmaster!
> 5. Draw a picture of your Mother or Father at work. 6. Draw a picture of your
> shoe, overlapping three different views on the
> same page. 7. Draw a picture of your pet. 8. Fill a page with drawings of
> bugs, sea shells, or something you collect. 9. Draw a family member or a
> friend from memory. 10. Draw a picture of yourself as you think you might look
> in ten years.
> 11. Have you ever had a daydream instead of doing your work? Draw a picture of
> a daydream. 12. Draw a picture of your house and yard, then draw a big
> dinosaur in the yard! 13. What is the best story your grandparents tell about
> the old days? Draw a picture of it. 14. Draw a picture of your favorite part
> about school. 15. What does your dream car look like? 16. What does the
> bogeyman look like? 17. If you could cast a magic spell, what would it be?
> Draw a picture of it. 18. The famous American Pop artist Andy Warhol said,
> "Everyone will have at least fifteen minutes of fame in their lifetime."
> Illustrate your fifteen minutes of fame. 19. A new musical group has asked you
> to design a CD cover for them that illustrates their music. Be sure that your
> design is original and does not use
> any other group's images! 20. Draw a picture of your dream house. You are
> rich, so include anything you want in this house.
>
> from Mark Alexander (archives 9/1/97)
> *****************************************
>
> Grades 3 to 5 I teach K-5. My 3,4,and 5th graders have sketchbooks. I love
> them and the kids love them. I am constantly showing them my sketchbooks and
> drawings and they show me theirs. I give homework to my students for them to >
> do in their skeetchbooks. Here are some ideas I have used in the past.
> !. What is art? 2. Self-portrait? 3. Draw your window. 4. A Value scale. Still
> life using as many of the greys as you can. 5. Design your own bedroom ( a
> floor plan) 6. What would you put in that room, where would you put it, how
> would you put it. 7. Think of three different animals. Draw the head of one,
> the body of the second one, and the legs of the third one. Name it. 8.
> Camoflauge something (a bug on a leaf, you in your room, a lizard on a rock)
> by texture or color. 9. Draw yourself screaming. 10. Sequence drawings. A
> vampire turning into a bat and flying away, three frogs playing leap frog and
> the last one falls into a hole, flower growing. These are great later in a
> zoetrope or a flip book format, animation
> on a computer. 11. Draw yourself at 16 years old, 30 and 80 years old.
> Tryptich (sp?) 12. Draw the silliest thing you ever saw. 13. Draw someone
> picking something up. 14. Draw the Thinker as an animal. 15. Distort
> something. A short fat pencil. A glue bottle the thickness and lenght of a
> pencil. A ruler made with curved lines ( not a bad idea). Great for
> adjectives. You could start by students listing adjectives and
> then pick two + an object and draw what it might look like. Kind of like
> visual "MadLib". from Nancy Knutsen (archives 9/12/96)
> ******************************************
>
> Grades 4 and 5 • book: Sketch-books: Explore and Store, by Gillian Robinson
> ISBN: 0-435-07018-5. excellent information affirming the use of sketchbooks.
> The implementation of sketchbooks is difficult work if done consistently.
> Supplies to assemble: about $1300 for 500 students. My 4th and 5th grade
> students use the journal for • notes on project procedure, including the nifty
> handouts from School Arts if applicable • wordsearches which include the
> vocabulary of the unit being taught for reinforcement • ongoing sketching
> using still life set ups in the room • self evaluation and critiques • When we
> do color mixing and exploration, students cut and paste samples in the
> sketchbook • also samples of tie dye, batik, printmaking etc. We really put a
> lot of good "stuff" in the sketch-book. It is such a good hands-on
> documentation for them to refer to and a great resource to share with the
> parents. from Barbara (rboville) *************************
>
> Grades 4 and 5 1. Making it. We begin by folding a 12 x 18 sheet of paper in
> half, then gluing subsequent pages inside with a thin line of glue to the
> front cover, or most recent page. I order and use 8 1/2 x 11 copy paper for
> this purpose. We can always add pages, as needed, to the sketchbook in this
> manner.
> 2. Cover designs. Examples: Who Am I? pictorial statements about the
> student, i.e., sports, hobbies/leisure activities, accomplishments, food
> preferences, pets, 6th grade. Name Design (typography) 5th grade. Portrait,
> Landscape, or Still Life, 4th grade.
> 3. Transition (from playground/classroom). Class begins with 6 minutes of
> "Silent Draw" time. At the beginning of the year, I introduce this time as
> mental exercise for the right side of the brain, and as a visual diary.
> 4. More Art Starters. Reproducible pages from "School Arts," or idea
> stretchers such as: imagine yourself/your world as a bug, a bird, an alien,
> etc.
> 5. Art History/Study Guides. I compile information about an artist, or period,
> or style of art (that we may be studying), and type this up. Sometimes, I'll
> photocopy a picture of the artist, or artwork, and include it as a small
> thumbnail print with the text. Students take turns reading aloud in class,
> and every student then has his/her own copy for future reference.
> 6. Demonstrations. Feature placement, shading, 3D drawing, perspective;
> these are just some of the topics that, as I demonstrate, the students
> practice in their sketchbooks.
> 7. Idea Refinement. Thumbnail sketches for assigned projects.
> 8. Review. Pop quiz, critiques, or self assessments are written on blank
> sheets in sketchbooks. from Cheryl (Ckart) *********************
>
> Grades 5 and 6 Three things the children particularly enjoyed and took very
> seriously!
> 1. We had our principal come in and model for us. (The AP came in one time
> and the librarian too.) We split it up but all were honored to model for us.
> 2. Outdoor -around the school mini draw time....just don't sit in a fire ant
> hill!
> 3. It just so happens that our maintenance man dresses like the holiday
> certain times of the year....The day he came in like a scarecrow...I nabbed
> him. Not all classes had him...but it was just one of those things you
> couldn't pass up.
> Have a mini still life set up so that kids who are finished early can go work
> on the still life in their sketchbooks.
> Also I did not make weekly assignments in the sketchbook. I wanted the
> sketchbook to be fun, not a burden to them. I also let the class decided on
> what they wanted to do for an assignment....They would vote: Something out of
> a window....or on a playground,.....or in their bedroom..... They were proud
> to carry them around and were selective with what they put in it. Several
> really got the hang of putting ideas in it for future work. from Laurie
> *************
>
> Grade 6 A single focus sketchbook called "The/My Special Interest Book" that
> students were responible for maintaining throughout the year/semester/quarter.
> I have assigned such a book for my 6th graders to work on when they are all
> "done!" We have been in school for three weeks, but already they are showing
> me their "books" that they will work
>
> on as the year goes by. The topics range from horses to Monster trucks, and
> they can write, draw, add clippings, photos, whatever they want. Charlotte
> Griswold (archives 9/1/97) ***************************************

>########################
> MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL
> #######################

> I used the single idea book (see above from Charlotte) with my 8th grade
> students as well last spring. We called ours a theme book. My students made
> their own hard bound books, chose a theme and made each page a beautiful work
> of art based on the theme. They were beautiful! I plan to use the same idea in
> place of a sketchbook second semester. By the way, one girl made 4 theme books
> during the semester and another one made a book about movie stars with fold
> outs and pop outs and a hand made box to fit the whole thing in that was about
> 14X18". Whoever donated this idea originally -- thanks! from Marcia Thompson
> (archives 9/2/97) ***************************************
>
> • rough out project ideas • versatile list of topics from: Art Journal Topics,
> by Terri Tarr-Schweitzer. Published by McDonald Publishing Co. , 1997. Found
> in the art resources section of an art supply catalog. from Barbara (Artgotch)
> *****************
>
> Creative thinking: the wind, sadness, happiness (other emotions represented
> with symbols, colors, etc. Collections of objects: toys, books (opened,
> closed, stacked), kitchen utensils, art materials, contrasting texture items,
> knick-knack collections, crumpled paper bags, still lifes of fruit or
> vegetables, clothing hung from hooks or chair backs, assorted balls, a
> collection of cans from the pantry or shampoo bottles from the shower. Stacks
> of shoes. Old hats. Spools of thread. Fantasy art: mythological
> interpretations, invented creatures from actual live creatures, fables and
> fairy tales. Story illustrations: for stories they've read or written. to
> redo those they don't like, or to emulate or reinterpret those they do like.
> Portraiture. Figures. Animals. Transportation forms. Functional object
> design, such as the bookbag or windsuit they'd like to have. Lautrec of the
> 90's poster designs for an event they are involved in. Formulate an idea and
> work it out on paper for a new... from Linda Kelty ******************
>
> Use them for notes, journaling and sketching; also for a short test at the end
> of our 6 week ( 27day) period; honors art class has weekly sketch assignments.
> I have gotten ideas for sketches from the archives. I refine my sketch list
> each year to keep it interesting. Some ideas: - bookmarks for the school
> library - junk food with wrapper - part of a vehicle - instead of a hand...
> your foot ( no socks or shoe) - something not pretty (one of the 8th grades
> favs) - an interior of something (once a student did the inside of a jar of
> peanut butter) - inside of closet - 3 unlikely objects together - your
> Mother's or Father's choice - part of any object ( mystery draw) - a scene
> that depicts peace from Mary B *************
>
> I have used sketchbooks for many years, usually with grades 7-12. Here are a
> few of my favorites:
> * Illustrate your favorite poem * Draw the contents of a trash can * Drawing
> of a house plant (real or artificial) * Draw an object with a surface texture.
> * Draw tools used in certain professions * Draw a tennis shoe * draw a
> grouping of leaves * Draw something you might find in a department store
> display * Draw a large jar and fill it up with something (candy, toys,
> rock, etc) * Design a school desk * Draw your favorite snack food * Draw an
> object melting * Draw a bowl of fruit, shade it. * Draw hands holding
> something * Draw a mechanical object * word picture: select a word that bring
> to mind a mental picture, Draw the word as the shape of the object. such as
> the word apple in the shape of an apple, or apples spelling out the word. *
> Draw popcorn * Keyhole: what would you see through a key hole from Sharon
> Hodges ***********************
>
> In my school, every student in an art class has a sketchbook. In beginning
> classes the assignments echo the concepts the students are
> learning...practicing contour, using different types of line, etc. They have a
> weekly assignment, as well as keeping track of some in class technical stuff
> and the writes we do....the studio or advanced kids keep the sketchbooks as
> process journals...all their class notes, thumbnails, pre
> assignment work, personal sketching etc goes in them. The sketchbooks go from
> art class to art class...they purchase them. Once in awhile I will
> find a big sale and resell my incredible bargains to them. There is paper and
> tagboard or old recyled folders for kids who do not want to pop for the
> sketchbooks. The end product is 25% of their grade. We expect a couple
> hours of work a week in them. At the end of the semester there are never
> leftovers in class the kids have a lot of pride in the visible progress they
> have made. from R.E. William Loring **************************
>
> 7th grade was to issue sketchbook packets. These were four to eight pages,
> photocopied, folded and stapled into a mini-sketch book. Each page had a theme
> or 'mini-drawing lesson.' There was also an area to score each page and a
> cover page that listed the title of the sketchbook (perspective, cartooning,
> portraits, etc.) the student's name, total grade, etc.The advantage of these
> was that the assignment length was short (two weeks) and because we moved on
> into new themes, the interest level was high. If a kid blew off an entire
> sketchbook packet, his grade didn't sink him in the class. from Alix Peshette
> (archives 2/19/98) ****************************************
>
> I do this type of drawing with high school students, but use a student model.
> The students draw with crayons, each person using a different color. We form a
> circle around the model and draw until a timer indicates to stop. I then
> instruct them to leave their work and move three chairs to the right. We draw
> for another 4-5 minutes, correcting if need be, and continuing the drawing. I
> have them move a second time and complete the drawing two spaces to their
> right. Each person signs the work, so you can tell by the color who did what.
> We critique these, and return each drawing to the person who started it. It
> is an excellent drawing method that was given to me in a workshop several
> years ago. from Janealla ****************
>
> Just had a great sketchbook experience at the Whitney...about six of us
> circled a sculpture, did a quick sketch of the object, and then on a signal,
> laid our sketcbooks on the floor, and moved to the left, to another person's
> book! It was rather terrifying, esp. for the totally non-artists in the
> group. One woman wanted out...said it was too stressful...another objected to
> the fact that we could erase and add, and finally, no one left, and we all
> emerged from the experience with a greater understanding of POV, and an
> appreciation of each other's experience...plus, we all have really interesting
> pencil sketches of a great sculpture by David Smith, c. 1950. This is a great
> excercise for students, even if you don't have access to
> a museum...which I don't...but I will prepare a sculpture for them, a la
> the styrofoam & dowell hanging sculpture that I got off this list...SanD, I
> think, but maybe Alix. from Charlotte Griswold **************************
>
> It wasn't until I got into grad school that I realized that sketchbooks are
> for more than just making drawings. They are a journal or diary of my thought
> processes that I can refer back to for more ideas later. I use to just draw
> in sketchbooks. I now: draw, paint, write, collage, attach
> xerox copies of articles from art magazines or any magazines, and paste up
> pictures or scraps of paper or whatever I find interesting. (Picasso did all
> five too.) For the painting I put down a border with drafting tape
> which can be pulled off later. from Richard, 4th semester MFA
> **********************************